The title of this post WAS going to be "I Love It When a Plan Comes Together." Unfortunately, my host and my Internet connection have other plans. And the definitely AREN'T coming together. So, I had to go with something about the best laid plans of mice and men...

There was supposed to be a nice picture of The A-Team's leader, Hannibal Smith shown here. For some reason, Weebly isn't taking pictures after some recent down time. Who knows what's going on with that?

The whole "plan coming together" thing is based on several current events coming together in perfect harmony to make this winter's training new and exciting.

First up is the USATNational Challenge Competition. This contest pits tri clubs from all over the country against each other as they log training mileage for December, January, and February. Each month has a focus, starting with swimming in December. Because of this program, I shifted my 30 swims in 30 days from November to December. While it will be difficult to hit the target of 30, I wanted to avoid being burned out on swimming come December. Of course, I'll be competing with the best tri club in the world, the Fox Cities Triathlon Club.

December also marks the beginning of the EvotriIron Challenge. This will make the USAT NCC more interesting as Evotri Ambassadors strive to complete a total Ironman during their monthly training. For an even greater challenge, individuals can attempt to complete multiple Ironman distances in a given month. For anyone competing in the National Challenge Competition, the team leader will love you if you are also doing the Evotri challenge.

Finally, as part of the Evotri Iron Challenge, we will be using a beta site call Plus 3 Network. Yet another triathlon focused networking site, Plus 3 Network has partnered with companies like SRAM, Trek, and Pedro's to raise funds for worthwhile charities such as World Bicycle Relief, Safe Routes, and Rails to Trails. Mileage completed and logged on the site generates money to be donated by the sponsors to the various organizations. It's a great way to let training have a positive impact on others.

These programs will provide a great deal of accountability to training through the long winter months. And with Plus 3 Network, that training will help others around the world. I have selected to partner with SRAM and the World Bicycle Relief project. Now, all I have to do is keep up with the Evotri Iron Challenge, support the Fox Cities Triathlon Club in the National Challenge Competition, and document the training, and I'll help provide bicycles to people in need.

As Hannibal Smith used to say in The A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together." If you want to be part of the plan, just stop by the Evotri site to find out about the Iron Challenge (and signing up for Plus 3 Network), check with your local tri club about the USAT NCC, and start planning your workouts.

It is amazing how quickly things can fill a schedule. At work, I found myself struggling just to get through all of the "must do" projects that came out of the budgeting process. It can be disheartening to look at a day's work, see how much was accomplished, only to realize that none of it was normal workload.

At the same time, I look back at the past week, see all the physical activity in my life, then realize that virtually none of it was endurance sports related.

I spent over an hour designing an obstacle course for kids, then running them through it. I spent an entire day in the woods cutting wood for my house. That wood had to be loaded, unloaded, split and stacked. Over three days, that represented many hours of wielding a chainsaw and/or axe.

All of that work was good for my body. It just won't help much in the swim/bike/run department.

And then, I stop here to vent only to find that my last post was nearly two weeks ago. Luckily, I don't have enough hair left to pull out.

The good news is that I have been putting time in on the trainer. I'm struggling with a cheap cycling computer trying to get it working on the rear wheel so I can get an indication of "mileage." Unfortunately, the receiver seems to stop receiving when speed gets up over about 8 MPH. So, for now, it's just time (and too little time, at that).

Perhaps I need to sign up for another Ironman to focus the efforts. Which generates an interesting line of thought.

Many people ask why endurance athletes seem to find more and crazier ways to push their bodies. Perhaps part of the answer is that it prevents apathy.

After running several half-marathons, the next one started to be a "given." While I might not set a PR at every race, finishing wasn't really a question. Over time, the same thing happened with marathons. Ask me to run a marathon tomorrow and I can. I might not do it in 3:30, but I'll finish.

But a 50-miler, that's not a given. A great deal of very specific training was required to complete that distance. And I wouldn't be comfortable doing another event without a similar plan. The question is, what happens if I complete five or six 50-milers?

The same is true of triathlons. Anything shorter than half-Ironman wouldn't phase me. The biggest challenge at the half-Iron distance is beating PRs. Barring extreme circumstances, I am confident of my ability to finish.

Ironman is another story. I finished one race at that distance, and will face many of the same fears when I sign up for the next one (whatever that is). Everything went pretty well in Louisville in 2007. Would Beach 2 Battleship in 2009 or Wisconsin in 2010 be the same?

New challenges. Perhaps that explains some of the "why" in what we do. Once something has been done again and again, it becomes a given. The next "impossible" challenge arises from past successes.

Okay, here's the question of the day. Why is it that my body seems to want more food when my training volume decreases than during some of the heaviest training/racing periods of the year?

Is it simply the timing? The times when training volume drops just happen to correspond to things like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas? Is the sudden urge to eat everything in site related to the holidays?

Is there a scientific explanation? Is my brain directing me toward every morsel of food in an attempt to pack on weight before I go haywire and start training like a maniac, again? Is the change in seasons or daylight somehow responsible?

Is it perspective? Am I actually eating less, but FEEL like I'm eating more simply because my training volume is down? Is the "everything in sight" that I eat during the heaviest training periods actually considerably more than I eat now?

Just to keep things straight, I eat like a horse when I'm logging a lot of training hours. I maintain a very good diet of things I should be eating, and throw in a lot of whatever else I can find to fuel the body. Since I'm not putting on a great many pounds, my intake is fairly even with my training volume.

Okay, I know it was just a week ago that I capped off the season with the Fall 50 ultramarathon. But the timing is such that my "off season" looks more like a recovery week. That's okay, because my taper looked more like an off season. Though I feel a bit sluggish, I was at the gym, Saturday, for a short swim and an even shorter run.

It was, however, a fairly challenging 1000 yards in the pool. And the 5K on the track was enough to leave me sweating pretty good. Signs that I'm still a bit wore out from last weekend.

The reason for the abbreviated off-season is the first day of November. For those who have followed my pattern for the past couple years know that November is dedicated to "30 Swims in 30 Days." So, I got those first painful swims (after a long break from the pool) out of the way.

Then, at our monthly Tri Fox meeting, it was announced we will be competing in a USAT event where clubs track their training volumes. Sadly, it starts in December. With swimming as the focus. Soooooooo, I'm shifting things around, a bit.

November is now "Cycling Pennance Month." I will be making up for very weak cycling training over the summer by putting in 20-25 rides of at least one hour, along with whatever other training can be worked into the schedule. That will allow me to dedicate December to swimming. While it will be impossible to get 30 days of swimming in, I might be able to squeeze in 30 swims (some two-a-days).

Thirty rides in November and 30 swims in December will give me plenty of time to recover from a very heavy run year. It will also let me put some time in figuring out how to improve my swim stroke. 2009 will start with another month focused on the bike, then move into February with a run focus. That will fit well as I start getting ready for some key road races early in the season.

I'll be switching back to Training Peaks as my primary means of tracking workouts On-line, and that will help me keep my training stats up to date, here. And you, my loyal reader, should keep me honest on that task, and remind me when it appears I've been lax in updating.

So, it promises to be a fun few months as I shift my focus off the run and back to areas where I have vast room for improvement.

Just who is this Iron Pol?

A former out of shape sailor, who became a marathoner, then a triathlete, Ironman, and ultramarathoner. Now, life has pushed me into short track speed skating. More important than the titles is the lifestyle, and sharing it with others.